


Down Time

by Baamon5evr



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Barton kids are the cutest, Bucky and Natasha have a cat that likes to maul things, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Some Non-Graphic Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-23
Updated: 2015-12-23
Packaged: 2018-05-08 14:45:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5501351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baamon5evr/pseuds/Baamon5evr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky dies, revives, does a little interior design and settles into having a family again all within 1, 500 words.<br/>(Best summary ever :D)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Down Time

"Stay low, Agent Barton. I don't know where the enemy is but they're sniffing around here somewhere." Bucky said to his partner as they crouched down together behind their cover. They were on a mission to extract their target but he was not where he was supposed to be and so they had to go snooping around for him, all the while hyperaware of the fact that they were not alone and could be attacked at any moment.

"Hey, I see our target." Barton said, pointing to a point northwest of their position. Bucky peeked over and indeed there their target was... in the middle of an open space. They would be vulnerable to attack if they went in but couldn't finish the mission otherwise.

"How are we supposed to do this?" Barton asked him.

"I have a plan. I'll go in and draw their attention, once their preoccupied with me, you slip in and extract our target. I'll meet you on the other side." Barton nodded solemnly, understanding the importance of Bucky's role here. He was willing to put himself on the line in order to complete the mission and ensure Barton's safety and that wasn't lost on him. Bucky nodded back to his partner before quickly slipping from around their cover and began to creep towards their target. He kept his gun held in front of him and kept an ear and an eye out for their enemy but the place was pindrop silent apart from their target making some unintelligible noises.

Just as he reached the target he was suddenly hit on his metal arm. He barely had enough time to react when he was ambushed on both sides. He fired at the smaller agent who came at him towards his left side but only grazed their arm. He quickly shuffled behind a pillar and retreated to a separate room hoping they would follow. The shorter agent immediately pursued him while the taller one hung back perusing the room. He fired again at the shorter agent, hitting them in the leg prompting a shriek which thankfully drew the second agent away from their target hopefully giving Barton enough time to run in and complete the extraction. Bucky kept running and shooting but eventually found himself out of ammo and with himself cornered by the two agents.

"Give up, Barnes. You got nowhere to go." The taller agent said as she and her partner pointed their guns directly at him.

"And what are you going to do? Shoot me."

"Well..." Bucky staggered back in shock as the smaller agent fired twice at his chest. He clutched himself, looking down at his chest before his back hit the wall and he found himself slumping down, his eyes flickering shut.

All was silent for a moment before he felt his arms being moved and someone crawl into his lap.

"I was just kidding, Uncle Bucky. I didn't really kill you." Bucky couldn't help the smile that stretched across his lips as Lila placed her tiny hands on his cheeks, tilting his head up.

"You sure? I feel pretty dead."

"You're talking, you're not dead."

"Well then why is everything so dark?"

"Open your eyes, silly." Bucky opened his eyes to see the smiling little girl blocking his view of everything else in the room.

"That's better. And aren't you a pretty sight?" Lila started giggling and simultaneously brushed some of his long hair away from his face.

"Huh, I think I liked him better when he was dead." Natalia commented.

"Auntie Nat." Lila chastised, looking back at the redhead who was smirking down at them, her nerf gun dangling ever so elegantly from her right hand.

"Let's go out to the living room and let Cooper know he won fair and square." Natalia said, nodding behind her.

"Do we have to?" Lila whined slightly.

"Yes, we do because he won."

"I killed Uncle Bucky."

"But he extracted Nate from baby jail and that was the mission, right?" She explained patiently.

"I guess." Lila said, pouting a little over not winning but she still stood up off of Bucky and happily trotted behind Nat towards where Cooper was.

"Congratulations, Agent Barton. You get to pick out our netflix movie and choose our popcorn flavor." Nat said as they entered the living room where Cooper sat on the couch with Nathaniel in his lap.

"Yes!" Cooper exclaimed, fist pumping the air and causing a small giggle to escape Nathaniel's lips.

"Can I make the popcorn with you, Coop?" Lila asked, apparently already over not winning.

"Hmm..." Cooper placed a finger to his lips, looking for all the world like he was thinking long and hard about Lila's request even though Bucky knew full well he would let his sister follow him anywhere.

"I guess you can come with me. I'm not a sore winner afterall." Lila smiled and skipped towards the kitchen immediately. Cooper got up, set to follow her but Nathaniel started whining and reaching out to Natalia. She quickly took the baby and Cooper was on his way.

"I think we'll make agents of them yet." Bucky said with amusement, walking around the living room and picking up nerfs as he went along.

"Not if Clint has anything to say about it." She retorted, sitting on the couch with Nathaniel bouncing in her arms.

"If Clint always got his way this house would be stuck with that god-awful white paneling he tried to impose onto his family instead of the much superior cherry paneling I picked out. Speaking of, we need to get some for our place."

"Cherry paneling will clash with my purple curtains."

"Not if we repaint the walls a lighter color and we gotta get rid of that lamp. That thing is hideous; I can't believe you bought that monstrosity. It looks like someone glued a carpet onto a lamp frame, and you wonder why Liho keeps attacking it."

"Liho attacks her own shadow and I didn't buy it, it was a gift from Steve. I know it's horrible but he spent hours searching for it. He thought it was my style."

"Why would he think that?"

"He caught me in one of my covers. I didn't have the heart to tell him it wasn't really me. You try telling Steve the thing's ugly when he's staring at you with the puppy eyes." Bucky rolled his eyes but conceded that point.

"Fine. We'll keep the lamp. Maybe Liho will maul it enough that we'll be forced to trash it." Nathaniel let out a particularly loud squeal as Nat blew raspberries into his stomach prompting a smile from both of the assassins. They would never have children themselves due to their line of work and the fact that they physically couldn't but Clint and Laura let them steal their kids every now and again and Bucky let himself dream what could've been in separate circumstances.

Cooper and Lila returned with two giant bowls of popcorn, caramel covered which was Cooper's favorite and white cheddar which was Lila's favorite.

"Your parents will kill us if they find out you ate that without brushing your teeth later." He said but still sat down on Coop's opposite side and grabbed a handful from both bowls. Nat gave him a look at that but he decided to ignore it.

"What are we watching tonight Coop?" Nat asked.

"Hmm, well what do you want to watch Lila?" The boy asked his sister. Bucky smiled to himself, Coop would usually concede and add Lila's input to anything he did.

"I wanna watch 'Frozen'." She exclaimed.

"I don't wanna see 'Frozen' again. Let's watch 'Brave'."

"We always watch 'Brave'."

"Hmm, maybe we should let Nate pick the movie." Lila nodded enthusiastically.

Bucky and Natasha quietly sat back and let the kids work it out on their own. Cooper scrolled through movies until Nate showed interest in 'How To Train Your Dragon 2.' Bucky dimmed the lights and threw his arm behind the couch as Lila crawled over to him, bowl in hand, and settled into his lap. Cooper moved closer to him and as a result so did Nat, Nate cuddled in her arms.

He couldn't quite keep the no doubt dopey smile off of his lips. Once upon a time, this was the endgame he was working towards, being in a nice house with his best girl and children he loved who loved him. It wasn't quite the way he pictured it decades ago but he still didn't feel he would trade what he had here, this family he managed to build for himself, for anything at all.


End file.
